deductions, Jenny was living on borrowed time. I turned the doorknob and entered the room, immediately noticing the cop stationed beside the still form of Jenny. He glanced up at me and smiled warmly. I returned the smile and approached him.
“I’m here to relieve you for a bit,” I offered.
The cop didn’t make any motion to leave. “And you are?”
“Dulcie O’Neil,” Knight answered from behind me. “She’s with us.”
The cop stood up, offering me a small smile of apology as he walked past. I turned to face Knight, about to ask for a little personal time with my childhood nanny but he nodded as if he knew what was on my mind.
“I’ll be back in a few,” he said, closing the door behind me.
I felt almost uncomfortable as I approached Jenny—as if I didn’t know what to say after not seeing her in over fifteen years. I stood above her and glanced down at her sweet face—there didn’t appear to be anything wrong—no Dreamstalker attacking her dreams. She appeared to be sleeping peacefully. And that was bizarre—at this point, I would have thought she’d be battling for her life, not appearing as serene as Sleeping Beauty.
“Hi, Jenny,” I started and my voice seemed alien somehow. “It’s me, Dulcie O’Neil.”
Of course she didn’t say anything but I had to wonder if she could hear me, if my words might offer encouragement. I grasped her hand and squeezed it.
“I’m going to make sure you get out of this, Jenny. I work in law enforcement with the Splendor ANC,” I continued. “I bet you never thought I’d end up a cop, did you?”
I laughed and eyed the dawn as it broke through Jenny’s window, the yellow rays of the sun absorbing the mysterious darkness of night. Somehow that visual gave me strength and renewed my fervor. With the Mandrake pumping through my system, I was suddenly confident—I knew we could take this guy down.
“I know you’re afraid, Jenny, but we’re going to catch this creature.”
I heard the door open and I glanced behind me at Knight. He smiled before gently closing the door and starting toward me. His footsteps belied his great height and build and I felt myself gulp as he draped his arm around me and glanced down at Jenny.
“How is she doing?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I mean, she seems okay—I don’t notice any indication of a struggle which doesn’t make sense.”
Knight nodded as if he knew where I was going with my comment. “This thing isn’t operating under the same rules other Dreamstalkers have.”
“Dia seems convinced it isn’t a Dreamstalker,” I said and eyed him, wondering how he’d take the news that I didn’t think it was a Dreamstalker either.
“Maybe it isn’t,” he said noncommittally and shrugged. “Dia is outside, trying to get a read on whether the Dreamstalker has been around lately or not.”
“How is she able to track them?”
“I’m not sure exactly but apparently she can sense them as long as she’s close enough to one. I think she said it has to be within one hundred feet or something.”
“So if the Dreamstalker isn’t nearby, she’s just wasting her time out there.”
He shook his head. “She can sense them both before and after they visit their victims. Apparently they leave a psychic imprint in the air.”
“Ah, so that’s what she’s searching for now?”
He nodded and pulled up the doctor’s swivel stool, taking a seat. He then motioned to the visitor’s seat just behind me. “Have a seat, Dulce, we’re going to be here for a long time.”
I didn’t argue but released Jenny’s hand, gingerly placing it beneath her blanket before retiring into the visitor’s chair with a sigh. I stretched my legs out before me and crossed them at the ankles.
“We’re waiting on Anna’s autopsy reports to see if it really was her heart that gave out,” Knight continued.
“Even if it was her heart, who’s to say that it wasn’t the Dreamstalker who scared her to death?”
Knight shook his head. “It wouldn’t follow true Dreamstalker death patterns. Death by slumber usually points to solidly functioning organs. It could just be that Anna had a weak heart.”
I shrugged but wasn’t buying it. “Knight, I don’t think it’s a true Dreamstalker either.”
I waited for the words to sink in, for him to argue with me but he just faced me with no emotion. “And I imagine this new opinion came about from this lead you mentioned earlier,” Knight started, raising a brow, as if he expected more